The New Indian Express ·
‘Newborn’ planet found in archival space data
Astronomers have discovered the youngest exoplanet ever recorded, finding the “newborn” world hidden in archival data.
About as massive as Jupiter, Elias 2-24 b is less than a million years old and lies about 450 light-years from Earth. Unlike most known exoplanets, it is still embedded in the swirling disc of gas and dust from which it formed.
The previous record-holder for the youngest known exoplanet was more than five million years old. “Elias 2-24 b shows us that even our best planet-formation models are still missing some important processes,” said Lucas Cieza, co-author of the study and a professor at the Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos in Chile.
